Hundreds of feet of stream day-lighted stream should prevent more flooding, group says

Local
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4/13/2014 7:45 PM
by Karen Franklin

OAK HILL - A Fayette County community is expecting to see less flooding following the recent completion of a storm water restoration project.

The Plateau Action Network day-lighted as much as 600 feet of stream previously piped underground in culverts.

For years residents were plagued by flooding when the pipes exceeded capacity. The problem began when several homes between Sumerlee and Lochgelly were built on a floodplain.

For more than a year Plateau Action Network worked at the headwaters of the Wolf Creek watershed to restore the tributary using natural stream design.

"By day-lighting the stream, we actually add some functionality to actually control flood waters out there, so we're trying to reduce the flooding that's been occurring out there for the last several years," Levi Rose told WOAY.

The Plateau Action Network completed the project with $180,000 awarded by the Department of Environmental Protection in 2012. The group also recently completed a rain garden in Fayetteville.